Love Is Tricky: Platinum Hammer Edition
by IsleofRedemption
Summary: A brand new rewrite to an old classic: A young squire of the Maximillian Knights runs afoul of the Stars of Destiny whilst seeking the affections of Meg the Apprentice Trickster! Completely rewritten to include more characters and storyline depth, I hope new and old readers alike will find something to enjoy! Meg/Original Character, Cameos Abound! Next Chapter: Suikoden 2 Begins!
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

I guess it all started a few years ago… it was during what people keep calling the 'Gate Rune War'. Before the whole 'Toran Republic' thingy was established.

See, right off the bat, I have kind of a problem with the war; They named the whole thing after what only a couple of people did. Nevermind the armies who were actually fighting and losing their lives valiantly on the field of battle, but ah, well. I guess if Master Maximillian doesn't take issue with it, then neither do I.

I was fourteen, a squire and infantry third-class serving under Maximillian Maximillian, of Maximillian's Knights (and _his _squire, Sancho). Aside from the fact that I had to say "Maximillian" so much, it wasn't that bad. The old master's combat training- as outlandish as it was- proved surprisingly effective once we were out on the battlefield... Not that we SAW much battling.

Before that point, the Maximillian Knights had been disbanded by the Scarlet Moon Empire, after Maximillian himself called said Empire out for… well, pretty much for being evil. Some could say it was a bit forward on his part, but they were being ruled by a witch and a guy who turned into a three-headed dragon. Just saying.

Maximillian and Sancho were doing some kind of… I want to say he was just scouting around, having heard of a Liberation Army that was rising up against the Empire, and by sheer accident, ran into the leader of the rebellion himself… I couldn't remember his name, but my editor- who is way better with names and dates and things- reminds me that his name was Tir McDohl, after the late General Teo McDohl (As he told me, Tir was actually forced to fight and kill his own father. I can't even imagine that…).

The next thing we all know, Maxmillian kicks in our doors, declaring that we were to ride forth once more! (So to speak; most of us weren't cavalry.)

And so, the Knights of Maximillian were back in the saddle (again, so to speak)!

Now it's about here that I should probably tell you; in spite of the fact that I was a Knight of Maximillian… I wasn't a shining example of a knight. All told, I was actually kind of lazy. More married to the reputation that comes with knighthood than with the actual notions of fighting and possibly dying; all the things I eventually learned to respect, as expressed a few paragraphs back.

My presence with the knights in the first place wasn't what you would call voluntary; My mother and father enlisted me. You know how that goes…

But now here we were, on our way to the lake-castle headquarters of the Liberation Army, which was in the middle of changing the fate of an entire nation… and all I could think was "Great. I'll get to spend the rest of my 'fighting' career in some big castle, lazing around." After all, what use could the already-huge Liberation Army have for a single third-class trainee?

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Apparently the definition of 'castle' was used loosely when it came to the Liberation Army's headquarters. It turned out it was a poorly insulated big stone pillar sitting in the middle of a lake. Strategically, sure, it was an easily defended outpost. But as a place to live? I could think of better.

Basically a vertical cave with a few murals and pieces of carpeting here and there, it was a constant victim of the cold lake mists and… okay, putting it bluntly, it was cold, dank and miserable. The woman who ran the inn- Marie, I think- she did her best to pretty the place up, and between her, Lester and Antonio- meals were pretty good, but still. It wasn't exactly ideal for all that 'lazing around' I was talking about. As it turned out, though, we really didn't even have time for that.

Mathiu Silverberg was the strategist of the Liberation Army, and he… well, at the time? I thought he was a bit of a psychopath and a callous jerk. He almost immediately took command of the Knights and- yes- while we were there to serve him, it was Maximillian whose judgment I had learned to trust. This guy though?

Oh, and then there was that other guy, Sanchez… I'll get to him.

The two of them took over the training sessions, so the Knights and I were stuck serving these two oddballs. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled about any aspect of it.

* * *

I'd already met a few of the 'bigger names' in the Liberation Army; people everyone knew by name and face; Flik and Viktor, the ex-Imperial Generals Rosman, Oppenheimer and Hazil, a lot of Elves, some Kobolds… I even caught a glimpse of honest-to-goodness _ninjas_ lurking around (which could only mean they weren't doing their job properly). But I didn't really have a chance to talk to any of them. They were always busy planning, training, things I probably should have been more focused on myself.

I _did_ meet a few people closer to my own age; First, there was Melodye, the apprentice phonologist (she insists that it's a word). I met her over lunch. She was just tapping two spoons together for some reason. Something to do with the sound and the resonance or some other fancy term.

Templeton the mapmaker was the second. I'd gotten myself lost in the castle, called out for help, and he actually found me. He sketched up a quick reference guide of the place so that sort of thing wouldn't happen again. He was a huge help in that way, and was _far_ more responsible at his age than I think I've _ever_ been… and… then there were the other two.

Hix and Tengaar. Those two. I swear, if there was anything in this world that made me loathe to seek out love, it was them. I mean, I have to admire their mutually weird senses of devotion, but I had to wonder if it was really worth the upkeep.

Hix actually came up to me one day, shortly after the Knights moved into Toran Castle. He was all nervous at first… I think he considered my station to be somewhere much higher than it was.

"I know Knights and Warriors are different", he'd said through a lot of stuttering, "but I… I want to know what it takes to be great and noble." I'm paraphrasing a bit, but that was the short of it.

"I wouldn't know the first thing." I replied honestly. "Maximillian is way better at judging that sort of thing, but I think he'd say you're already on the right track."

I didn't know for certain, but it was true. Hix tried so hard, and he really wasn't bad with a sword to tell you the truth.

My interactions with Tengaar mostly consisted of her occasionally glancing at me before dragging Hix away from one of our conversations. Or sitting next to him when all of us- Myself, the two of them, Templeton and Melodye- were in the impromptu mess hall (Technically there was one more- Viki- but after one occurrence which we like to call 'The Pepper Incident'… she moved to sit closer to Jeane and Hellion, where she could be more closely monitored).

We spent that time listening to Templeton talk about places he'd been to and people he'd met, trying to fake interest in whatever Melodye was talking about, hearing Hix and Tengaar's stories of growing up together in Warrior's Village and my own stories about being trained under Master Maximillian.

Outside of lunch and sleep, the leisure time I had hoped for before was rare. And most of that time was spent pacing in weird patterns all over the castle, occasionally enjoying the elevator whenever someone more important wasn't using it. It wasn't the smoothest ride, but it was a remarkable invention, and a godsend in a place with so many stairs, but I digress.

It was during one of those little walks that I met her.

* * *

"Juppo! Uncle Juppo!"

I really hadn't known what to make of the strange sound coming from around the hallway corner. Only because I hadn't met or even heard of Juppo the Trickster before then did I just assume someone was talking like a crazy person. Lending credence to this idea was the number of jingling bells that accompanied the voice

Either way, I slowed my pace, intending to turn down that very corner, and doing everything I could to prevent a collision. However, the aforementioned presumed crazy person was both jogging and entirely immersed in whatever she was searching for.

"Uncle- AH!"

The small figure crashed headlong into me. Slender and a half-head shorter than myself, the momentum was still more than enough to send us both to the ground in opposite directions.

It looked as though I'd taken the worse of it, flat on my back having bumped my head on the ground, while she hand fallen into an awkward sit.

Groggily leaning up, the disorientation and the natural dark surroundings of the castle cave gave way, allowing me to see whom I had just… run into.

She was the cutest freaking thing I'd ever seen. She had brown hair styled in a ponytail, and wore these little green bells around her neck. In fact, a lot of her wardrobe was green; hairband, gloves, blouse and boots, which also had little bells on their pointed tips. Her skirt was slightly frilled and tan, her reddish-brown thigh-high stockings fitting rather loosely, and she wore a strange, floofy little collar. Really, she looked like some kind of performer, or even a dressed-down clown… but a more adorable clown, I couldn't imagine.

"Sorry 'bout that." She said abruptly, already in the act of getting up. "You okay?"

I was a little flustered for a second. The jostling of my head, plus… well, plus _this_, I really wasn't at my social best.

"M- My fault, I'm sorry." It wasn't, of course. "I'm fine. What's-?"

But my words fell upon entirely deaf ears. As a matter of fact, they fell upon no ears at all. Turning swiftly, I found that she was already skipping down the hallway I'd come from, calling out for 'Juppo' once more.

Of course, I could have tried to follow her, but for whatever reason, it never occurred to me.

Nobody ever said I was smart.

* * *

The next day, over lunch, I was at my usual spot, talking to my usual companions… although I wasn't really paying attention to anything any of them were saying. I was- as you could probably guess- looking over the mess hall, trying to catch a glimpse of a brown ponytail, a flicker of green or frilled tan skirt. It was only when Templeton actually waved a hand in my face did I remember where I was.

"Hey! We've only got ten minutes left, and you've hardly touched your stew…"

"Ah…" I blinked, coming back to the there-and-then. "Right. Stew. Kay."

"Is something the matter?" Melodye asked. "You've been… quiet."

"Have I?" I countered, almost sounding paranoid.

"You look like you're expecting someone to pop out and shoot you or something." Tengaar said, staring at me suspiciously.

"I'll eat." I said at last, stuffing a spoonful of Lester's specialty into my mouth. Even lukewarm, it was pretty good… but I winced as Tengaar spoke again.

"You're looking for someone, all right." She said with a smile in her voice. "Not an assassin, but-…"

I was cursing the tingling blush in my cheeks as she leaned over the table.

"Tell me."

"It's nobod- n- nothing!" I said, fumblingly putting down the bowl of stew. "It's none of your business!"

"Well, at least he's not staring at Jeane all the time." Melodye said with a harrumph.

"It's not Viki either, she always sits over there." Templeton offered, nodding sidelong to the Runemistress's usual table.

"Oh…" Hix suddenly spoke up, but with a single glance at me, he immediately bowed his head to pick away at the mushrooms in the stew he'd avoided eating.

"What?" Tengaar jerked toward him reflexively. "What's 'Oh', Hix?"

"It's… oh… it's nothing."

"It's not 'nothing', Hix! Do you know? Tell me!"

"Stop bullying him!" I shot back, but instantly regretted the words as she gave me the deadliest of all glares.

"Now, Hix…"

"…She's not here." Hix said. And that was it.

"Who's not-?" Tengaar quirked her eyebrow, perplexed.

"Meg." Templeton answered simply. "Meg is the only one not here in the mess hall. Looking for her uncle who doesn't want to be found…"

"Is that it!" Tengaar demanded, turning back to me… where I'd gone from blushing to pale, and right back to crimson again. "You like Meg, don't you?"

"I… I don't know what her name is!" I said honestly. "I ran into her in the hallway last night, and she… I don't… she was wearing bells and green-"

"Meg." The other four said in near-unision.

It was a cute name. It suited her.

"Meg's a Trickster." Templeton explained. "They use gadgetry to make trick-devices, weapons, and even artificial living creatures; Most of which tend to explode."

I listened quietly to the mapmaker, now wishing that I'd let this slip earlier; that way we'd have had more than ten minutes to talk about this.

"Meg heard that her uncle Juppo- the famous Trickster- had joined the Liberation Army, so she decided to join as well. Since then, she's been chasing him all over the castle, trying to get him to teach her all of his skills. But he doesn't really want her to follow in his footsteps. Not sure why; he seems to have enough fun. Maybe he just doesn't want to share."

"So what's got you so interested in her?" Tengaar persisted. "Do you just think she's cute? Did she talk to you?"

"That can't be it." Melodye said with a shake of her head. "He's not Juppo, after all."

"Are those the only things she's interested in?" I asked. "Her uncle and being a Trickster?"

"It seems that way." Hix shrugged. "But if you want to know more about her, you should probably talk to Onil. She knows all kinds of things."

"And maybe we can try to look for Juppo." Templeton spoke again, looking around at the five of us. "He might know more about her than anybody else. And about Tricksters in general."

"And besides, if Juppo knows you're looking for her, he'd probably be more than happy to help you keep her away from _him_." Tengaar chimed in mischievously.

I sighed and nodded. As awkward as it felt to have this all planned for me, it was incredibly convenient.

"Then it's settled." I reached out, putting a hand in the center of our little circle. The others followed suit, Hix and Melodye more hesitantly than the other two.

* * *

Onil was a lot easier to find than either Juppo OR Meg proved to be. Maybe unlike Juppo, this was because she made it a point to be everywhere, hear everything, so she would have plenty of gossip to spread.

"And what can I do for you, little squire?" She'd asked me, in this weird voice that just… made me uncomfortable. It was this weird, teasing tone that attempted to be sultry, the way Jeane always talked… but really, she couldn't pull it off.

"Do you know anything about…" I began, but… I'll be honest, Onil was something of a close-talker. She was leaning in really far, and the already uncomfortable conversation became a lot more so. I mean, being a gossip as she was, I suppose this was her normal method of talking. Still.

"Well? Old Onil knows everything."

"I bet she does." I said, considering that one kind of clever, actually. "But… but I'm looking for information about a girl named Meg… Juppo's niece."

Her eyes widened, and the already present smile on her face widened into a full-on smirk. At that point I realized the full scope of my error; Telling the castle's biggest gossip that I was smitten with a young lady was not my best idea. But then it had been Hix's idea. I retroactively blame him.

"Well _well_." She said with this deep, rubbing-it-in sort of giggle. "Both of them are tough to get ahold of. Both Juppo _and_ Meg. But I can tell you this; you may eat the same time every day, and he may avoid the army's assigned lunchtimes to keep from being cornered by his niece, but Juppo has to eat sometime."

"So… just stake out in the mess hall area?" I asked. "Unless he shoots birds on the roof or goes out fishing with-"

Onil gave me a look that said on no uncertain terms that I was over thinking it.

"…Right." I said at last, sighing and nodding. "Well, is there anything you can tell me about Meg?"

"She's shown absolutely no interest in boys." She answered with a teasing grin.

"Thank you, Onil." I said numbly. After a heavy sigh, I looked at her one more time. "So what, do I have to give you a piece of gossip in exchange?"

She blinked at me, then chuckled.

"You've already given me one."

* * *

Unfortunately, one of my fears in all this came to life not long after my talk with Onil; I was starting to get those sly smirks from a great many people… most of whom I didn't even _know_. Of course none of them stopped to offer any useful advice. Oh, no. That would have made it too easy.

All it did was add a nerve-racking undertone to this already awkward situation.

I told Templeton and the others what I'd-… well, not what I'd learned, because I didn't really _learn _anything. I pretty much just told them what Onil had told _me_.

"So she suggested you just stay near the kitchen and watch for him?" Hix asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "Seems… seems a little too obvious. Like Meg would have thought of doing that by now."

"That's what _I_ thought." I replied. "But when I suggested there might be more to it, the just gave me this weird look."

"Then I guess that's what you'll have to do." Tengarr concluded simply. I sighed and looked around the table.

"But you and Hix are on-call all the time, just in case Commander Tir or Mathiu needs you for something. Same with me, just in case Master Maximillian drops some emergency training on us…"

"But what would we even ask him?" Melodye asked, looking to Templeton, who only blushed a bit.

There was a long moment of silence between the five of us, but I knew how it was all going to end… once I got over my pouting, I knew that this was my responsibility… I didn't _like _it, but I couldn't be sure if _I _would remember to ask for critical information, let alone asking someone else to do it. In the end, I decided I'd accept the reprimand for sleeping in (it wouldn't be the first time) than lose this opportunity.

* * *

So there I was, sitting near the kitchen on my standard-issue military blanket, watching people come and go, although those instances came less and less often as the hours went on. Thankfully Marco came along with that cup-and-ball setup, and Gorges stopped by to see what I was doing and let me play his card-match game a while, so I didn't die of boredom.

But they left, the sun had long since gone down and I was alone in the dark. Of course I was kind of scared- especially with people like Krin wandering around. I don't want to come off all gushy or anything, but I was too excited to be scared, thinking about what I might learn about Meg from Juppo… and I think it was at about that point that I realized I had forgotten _completely _to ask what Juppo even looked like.

Excited or not, though, I was steadily starting to lose it; I was starting to nod off, and there wasn't the slightest sign of anyone who might have been Meg's uncle.

By that point, it was either investigate alternate possibilities, or fall asleep there and then after wasting an entire evening.

With the blanket wrapped around me to stave off that misty night air, I made my way down to the ground floor of Toran Castle. I could have taken the elevator, but the amount of noise that thing made combined with how late it was would have had the entire place ready to cut my head off. Most of them had itchy trigger fingers anyway. That in mind, I resigned myself to an eventual arduous climb back upstairs at some future point, while just trying to enjoy the brisk journey down.

I was actually starting to get those minor hallucinations one gets when they're too tired. You know the ones; spiders and weird blurs? So it was no surprise that when I got to the castle entryway- where Qlon was comfortably snoozing and mumbling 'Welcome to Toran Castle'- I thought I imagined the strange figure gliding across the water toward the docks.

I crouched down out of sheer reflex- With the dark, quiet night, it just seemed like the natural thing to do- and I watched the small schooner pull into port.

Inside, I could see the bushy locks of Yam Koo, fishing buddy of Liberation Army celebrity Tai Ho. Both fishermen, Tai Ho was also an accomplished gambler and alcoholic. Yam Koo seemed to take it upon himself to make sure his 'brother' didn't get into too much trouble.

Then again, they were both in the army now, so… your guess is as good as mine as to how effective he was.

Behind him, however, was not Tai Ho, but someone I both did not recognize, and knew immediately at the same time.

It was a man in a strange round hat, and a ridiculously puffy shirt; as though his torso were inflated like a balloon while his skinny limbs were left behind.

"Thanks again, buddy." The puffy-torsoed man muttered softly, looking more than appropriate as he gradually got his 'land-legs' back. "I owe you one."

"No problem." Yam Koo replied in his usual mellow tone. "Just remember, I can only take you on these food runs once Big Brother's asleep. You know how it is."

"Sure, sure." The other man nodded before walking back across the docks toward the castle.

By then, I'd stood up again, ready to meet him.

"It's okay, kid; I'm a regular." He said quickly, brushing past me as he reentered.

A bit stunned, I shook it off quickly and pursued him. I shouldn't have been surprised by his disregard; it must be where Meg got it from.

"No, I'm not a guard, sir. I-" At that moment, two things struck me: First, I didn't know how to address him, and second, how to explain to him that I was potentially romantically interested in his niece.

"It's not 'sir', kid. It's 'Juppo', short for 'Master Trickster Juppo'." He said curtly, answering one of my questions straightaway.

"Juppo." I began again, keeping my voice low as he headed for the stairs. "I… I wanted to talk to you about… about Meg."

And there was the other. At that instant, I was starting to think this would be easier than I figured.

It didn't last.

At the sound of her name, he froze in place.

We'd reached one of those turns halfway up the ground-to-first-floor stairwell.

He spun around, grabbing me by the shoulders with an expression I neither recognized, nor liked.

"Let me give you a word of advice, kid; Don't. Just don't." He gave his head a single firm shake. "You do not want any part of that girl, and I'm not gonna dump her on you."

I guess he had some idea of what I'd wanted to know about her, but it didn't matter.

"Why?" I persisted. "I mean, I know it's not my business, but why are you avoiding her? And what if I _want_… I mean, suppose… just for sake of argument-"

"She ran away from home, for one," He began, "and you may not realize this, but but we Tricksters aren't always the most well-liked by the general public. And even those who _do _respect what we do aren't always the kind of people we would _want_ to do business with. I don't wanna be responsible for getting her enslaved to some creep like Barbarossa."

Well, I couldn't refute that logic.

"But then why not tell Meg that?"

"You don't think I've tried?" Juppo hissed. "She's dead-set. She doesn't care what happens to her. She said if I don't teach her, she'd learn on her own."

"Well, why not just teach her? Wouldn't it be easier? And safer?"

"It was a bluff, kid." He muttered. "I've been refusing for a while and she's been chasing me instead of taking the time to learn herself anything at all."

"What about wild monsters? In the fields when she's following you everywhere?"

"I've been _outrunning_ her. Not _abandoning _her. Now if you're done-"

"I'm _not _done!" I said, reaching out to catch him by the arm as he turned to walk away. I kept my grip away from the puffy shirt, though, on some level afraid of that comment about explosions… It was kind of a rude thing to do, but remember, I was half asleep and not thinking clearly.

"Hey!" Not surprisingly, he glared at me and yanked his arm out of my grasp.

"I don't care if you teach her or not, honestly. I really don't." I began, trying my best to repair the damage. "…Is there… is there anything she _likes_? Other than Trickster stuff? Like, food or flowers or candy or something?"

If the cat wasn't out of the bag before, it sure as hell was now.

"No." He said instantly. His reaction to my question was surprisingly understated… at least at first.

"Being a Trickster is all she wants; all she's _ever_ wanted. It's all she ever thinks about, and she will hound me for the rest of my life to get it." As he spoke, he took me by the shoulders again, and looked me dead in the eye.

"It's because she is a young, innocent and idealistic little girl. A little girl who I have been burdened with; And as long as that's the case, it falls upon me- whether I like it or not- to make sure she doesn't get hurt, arrested, or _mixed up with people who might take advantage of her_."

I could feel myself going pale as he gave my shoulders a squeeze, then let go.

He turned and walked away without looking back, leaving me with my thoughts…

And that point, it was worse than being alone.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

"Was that all he said?" Hix asked the next afternoon at lunch.

I hadn't slept well after that meeting with Juppo (as you would probably guess). And then, predictably, three hours after my body dropped into my cot, Maximillian woke us up for surprise drills.

Dead to the world, I could hardly keep up with them, nor with the reprimanding I got from my immediate superior afterward.

"I guess he figured that would be enough." I sighed, picking at my food. After that whole thing, I suppose I'd had neither sleep _nor_ an appetite.

"I'm actually sort of shocked." Tengaar said honestly. "He seemed like a lousy parent. Guardian. Whatever."

"It doesn't matter." I answered listlessly. "He doesn't want me around her, so…"

"Maybe it was just a test?" came the perky voice of Lotte- a newcomer to our little group. She'd used to sit with the Runemistresses, but maybe Viki had asked her to sit with us on her behalf… or maybe Onil had gotten to her. "He's just testing your determination or whatever."

"How can I tell if it's that, or if he actually thinks I'm a creep?"

"It could be both." Templeton said plainly, then blinked as I looked over at him. "It _could_…"

"You're not." Melodye said encouragingly, but my face was already firmly rested within my palms.

"Onil's got it so the entire Liberation Army knows I have a crush on a girl I barely know, her uncle hates me… oh, and the _reprimand_… Amazing when _that's _the best part of my day. This whole thing is like some kind of a bad joke."

"I still don't think it's you." Lotte persisted. "I bet he does this to _everyone _who's interested in Meg."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better." The thought that there was an 'everyone'…

After another moment of morose eating, I noticed the others suddenly looking- not at _me_, but at some point over my head. Tilting back, I looked straight up… and almost cringed my way into merging with the floor.

Standing over me with a wide grin was the massive, brutish swordsman known as Viktor.

"S- Sir!" I immediately stood up and saluted- a customary gesture of respect from a knight to a high ranking member of the Liberation Army; Roguish and unkempt as he appeared, he was actually one of Commander Tir's right-hand men.

"Eh, hey, nuffathat. You're makin' me blush." He chuckled. Turning, the bearlike warrior wrapped an exceptionally thick arm around my shoulders and guided me- much to my dismay- away from the safe bubble of my friends.

"H-hey! What are you- where are we-!"

"Shhhhh." He answered quietly. "You and me? We've gotta talk."

* * *

After a brief walk, I found myself back outside the castle near the docks, which were far less intimidating in the daytime (unless one feared seagulls).

"So tell me; Is it true? You've got a thing for the 'Gadget Girl'?"

It was my turn to blush, looking away and biting my lower lip.

"I… I don't know." I answered honestly. Kind of honestly. She was cute but admitting it aloud at that point seemed like a bad idea.

"Well, you'd better make up your mind." Viktor replied as he led me along. "B'cuz if you do? I wanna give you a hand."

"What?" I asked, more than a little confused. "Why?"

"Because I owe that stupid clown for makin' us ride his stupid roulette wheel for hours, just to pass through one stinkin' hallway."

"Oh." I answered numbly, having no idea whatsoever what he meant by that.

"You have any idea what her interests-"

"YES," I muttered back, "and it doesn't help."

"Well, we've got a library and a laboratory." He murmured. "Seems like one'a those ought've struck her fancy."

"You think she'd have missed them?" I asked.

"Maybe, maybe not… She spends most of her time chasing her uncle around, so who knows how much of this place she's actually seen?" He shrugged.

"How do I talk to her, though? Even if I find her, she won't stop for anything other than him."

"You leave that to me." He grinned suddenly. "I know one way to keep her location nice and predictable… of course I'll have to pull some strings with the Commander, though."

"You'd do that?" I blinked. Viktor must _really_ have hated Juppo… but then, I could kind of relate.

"Hell yeah." He laughed, but then the smile melted off his face as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, "Do _not _make me regret this. I'm'a do it for you, but you do _not _half-ass it, and you are a _gentleman_. Got it?"

I blinked at him, nodding slowly.

"Great!" He reached down and nudged me firmly on the shoulder, immediately losing that menacing edge.

Rubbing my now-aching shoulder, I began to wonder if his was the kind of help I would _want_, but… as long as he insisted.

* * *

The next day seemed to be something of a mass-leisure moment, as the castle was more crowded than it normally was, and there was a surprising lack of any military activity; no drills or exercises or anything.

At the time, I was in what we liked to call the Merchant's Row, where all of the-… well, you can probably guess what you might find there; The shops, Marie's inn, and also the dice booth belonging to Gaspar. More than a few people had lost their shirts playing that game, to a point where Gaspar could probably have funded the war effort on his own.

You'd probably also find a ton of guys hanging out outside of Jeane's Rune shop. The crowd might as well have been affixed to the ground as much as the store stone booth itself.

Anyway, I was pacing up and down the Row (per Viktor's instructions), when something caught my eye that took me completely off guard (and no, it wasn't Jeane. Yes, I do find her attractive… she just weirds me out somehow).

Turning down into the aisle- the way cleared by the general public- was none other than Viktor… along with Tir McDohl himself, and an entourage of six, all told; It was Tir, Viktor, Tai Ho and Yam Koo, Tir's aide whose name was Pahn, and… Meg.

For a few seconds I just stared dumbfounded. Then, after the shock wore off, I could hear Viktor talking in a deliberately boisterous tone.

"C'mon! Gaspar's gettin' lonely over there! Let's throw some dice already!"

"Is that what you were so big on bugging Young Mas- er- _Commander_ McDohl for?" Pahn asked, apparently slightly more reverent toward Tir given his history as his bodyguard or something. "Just some gambling and bonding?"

"If that's the case, why did we bring the girl along?" Tai Ho added, glancing at Meg. The Trickster for her part seemed entirely disinterested in anything that the men were doing or talking about. "Women're bad luck."

"I forget." Viktor lied, still talking unnecessarily loudly. "Don't worry. We can dump her on someone until we've wrapped up our business…" At this, the bear-looking man straightened, looking all around the area.

As cues went, few things could have been more blatant.

I pushed through the crowd of Merchant's Row, finally bursting through the congestion resulting from Tir and company's presence.

"Aha!" Viktor proclaimed as I wedged out and nearly fell on the floor. "This strapping young man can be our chaperone for this nice young lady- get over here, Squire-boy." He added in a mutter as he stepped around us, guiding me toward her with one large hand.

I flinched a little at Viktor's shouting, but outright cringed as I noticed the eyes of all of them- including the Commander himself (AND more importantly Meg) directed straight at me.

"Keep an eye on this little cutie while we do us some bonding, a'right?" Viktor said, slapping Tir heartily on the back (which I could tell pained the latter somewhat). With that, I found myself left alone- relatively speaking- with a very confused and very bored Trickster girl

The crowd was beginning to reconvene around us, where before it had spread out to allow Tir and company more room. I already noticed some of them looking at the two of us. I swallowed, and looked at her for a moment.

Now that it wasn't almost completely dark, and I could see her a little more clearly, it really didn't change anything. She was still cute… only now I could make out the color of her eyes; a deep ruddy-brown color.

"H- Hi." I began, droning off my name and my station amongst the Maximillian Knights, followed by a stiff bow, and offering my hand to her.

"I'm Meg. Nice to meet you." Without hesitation, she took it in her own slender, gloved hand and gave it a single light shake.

She was still absentmindedly looking through the crowd, and I knew what was going through her mind… then the thought of Juppo's stern, disapproving face popped into my head.

However, instead of scaring me away, it actually made me kind of angry… more eager than ever.

"We've actually met before." I said firmly, releasing her hand. "We ran into each other the other night in one of the castle hallways, when you were chasing after-"

"He's my _uncle_, okay!"

I stumbled over my explanation as she suddenly snapped at me.

"I… beg your pardon?"

Her face had gone from an ineffectual expression to a red-faced look I recognized instantly as one of anger and embarrassment.

"I dunno what everyone's problem is today!" She pouted- cutely, I might add- her arms stifling her frilly skirt as they pointed straight down, ending in balled fists. "Teasing me about where my 'boyfriend' is, and what my 'boyfriend' is doing! JUPPO IS MY _UNCLE_, GOT IT?"

I just stood there. My mind was trying to work out exactly what I was hearing.

"I don't _have_ a boyfriend, and I don't _need _a boyfriend! So stop saying he's my-"

"I was going to _say_ 'uncle'…" I managed.

Her face had gone from red to blue from shouting so much, and she'd managed to garner a great deal of attention in the process. As I watched, her features softened until all traces of the outburst had left her.

"…Oh." She said at last.

It didn't take long for me to realize what had happened; Onil had blabbed about my crush, others had teased Meg about it, and Meg had mistakenly assumed they were referring to her pursuit of Juppo, perhaps thinking they weren't aware of the familial connection.

I wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse that my name had never been brought up in said teasing.

"Meg… look, I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asked, looking at me curiously. "What're you apologizing to _me_ for? _I_ yelled at _you_."

"It's my fault, though." I said after a slight hesitation. Maybe it was that last part of her rant moments ago, but as I tried to talk to her, my tongue felt as if it were made of lead.

"Huh?"

"I can't… be sure what you heard, but… but-"

At that moment, another loud voice boomed from the vicinity of the elevator.

"Will Commander McDohl and Viktor please report to the Meeting Hall? Repeat: Commander Mc-… VIKTOR. Viktor, quit playing around and get up here. This is _important_."

I recognized the voice of 'Flik the Blue Lightning' from a speech he'd given the Knights some time early in our tenure with the Liberation Army. Like Viktor, he was one of Tir's most trusted elite soldiers. Unlike Viktor, though, Flik was much more serious about it… I suppose losing a loved one will do that to you…

"Ah, sorry! We'll talk later, okay?"

And just like that, without so much as a nod or a smile- she wasn't even _looking_ at me- she bounded off into the crowd, moving to meet up with where Tir, Viktor and the others were pulling themselves away from Gaspar's dice booth.

Viktor shouted something back at Flik… then turned to give me an enthusiastic 'thumbs-up'…

I returned the gesture, but it was far less so.

_I don't _have_ a boyfriend, and I don't _need_ a boyfriend!_

That's all I could hear in my head, over and over again.

This was not going well.

* * *

"I'm terrible at this."

That night at dinner, I took my building frustrations out on the bit of bread I was given, tearing it up and drowning it in soup piece by piece.

"If Viktor helped you before, he might do it again." Hix offered. "Neither of you could have known they'd get pulled away like that."

"But she never came back." I sighed. "I waited there for hours for her to come back, but she never did."

"She probably just forgot." Tengaar stated plainly, picking away at what was left of her own meal. "She _is_ kind of a flake… no offense."

I frowned at her, but she was admittedly right to some degree.

"You just need to make a bigger impression." Melodye offered. "Sure, she yelled at you, but that could have been at anybody."

"Well, what would you suggest?" I asked, looking at the phonologist.

"Try something traditional." She said with a smile, standing up and offering me a hand.

"Where are we going?" Confused, I took her hand and stood up.

"To visit the _other_ people you would never see here."

"The ninjas?"

"You wish."

* * *

What was left of the sunlight was waning fast, but I still felt the urge to shield my eyes as we emerged from the cavernous tower, made our way across one of the stone bridges to an adjoining spire, and finally reached its rooftop veranda… where the self-indulgent men and women collectively known as 'The Narcissists' took their tea and ate their biscuits and did whatever they did with their jewel-encrusted lives.

Luckily, whatever Mathiu had called Tir and the others for had not required the presence of this lot… well, I say 'luckily', but… nevermind.

As I came out of the stairwell leading from the Ex-Imperials' room, I was immediately overwhelmed by a sickening barrage of perfumes, floral aromas, colognes incense and who knew what else.

I put a hand over my mouth, whimpering a bit. This wasn't the first time in my life I'd heard of or interacted with these sorts of people, and after that first time, I'd hoped never to do it again.

Nevertheless, here we were. For the most part, it was an extravagant garden with large floral topiaries on all sides, with a sort of hanging garden directly above the entry stairwell.

Beyond that was an elegantly crafted table of pure white with matching chairs, accented with bits of solid gold.

Seated in each of the three chairs were Former Imperial General Milich Oppenheimer, a noblewoman known only as Esmeralda, and a _professed_ nobleman who made a very big point of introducing himself as Vincent de Boule.

They were literally lounging around and sipping tea while listening to General Oppenheimer's 'meistersinger' Kasios play her harp for them (Gymnopedie #1, for reference).

In all reality, if it weren't for the overwhelming smells all over the place, it actually would have been a nice place to relax.

"So?" I whispered to Melodye as she admired Kasios' handiwork.

"Oh!" She shook her head, clearly engrossed in what she had been hearing, before looking at the flowers.

"So… do I just _take_ them?" I asked after a moment, shuffling a step toward them in hopes of not drawing too much attention.

"No!" Melodye hissed back. "Obviously you should ask permission, first!"

"But I don't _want_ to!" I whispered back. Nobody in their right mind would want to ask _anything_ of this stuck up crew.

"Then you don't get any flowers." Melodye said matter-of-factly.

"W-what about Blackman?" I asked. "Doesn't he plant these things? Can't I ask him?"

"If you want to wait a few weeks…" She said, starting to sound impatient with me.

I looked back and forth between her and the Narcissists, brushing a hand through my hair… but then I noticed Kasios had stopped playing. _Then_ I noticed four additional sets of eyes gazing in my direction.

"Why, I do believe our meistersinger's sweet melodies have attracted the rabble, haven't they?" Esmeralda said smoothly, in a voice I couldn't distinguish between being flattered or insulted.

Either way, I fought hard to choke back the bile as I gave a long, slow, deep bow to the four of them.

"By all means, approach!" General Oppenheimer bade Melodye and I… and I'm sure he thought he was doing us a favor by immersing me further in the thick, potent air.

Two things occurred to me as I drew closer to the tea table, Melodye sweeping past me at a more brisk pace; first, that Melodye was actually _used_ to this sort of atmosphere, and secondly that I would probably never be able to wash that smell out of my clothes. (Thankfully time would prove otherwise on the latter, but I was genuinely terrified at the time.)

"What brings you here, good peasant?" Vincent asked in a melodramatic tone of voice he had obviously spent some time rehearsing. I sort of wanted to tell him I was a _squire_ and not a _peasant_, but that would mean prolonging an already stale conversation.

I stood there in silence… not really knowing what to say. At last, I turned to Melodye with a pleading expression.

She cleared her throat and spoke with a voice that seemed equally well-rehearsed.

"This young man humbly requests permission to take a few of the lovely flowers from your extravagant garden."

I looked back at her with slight shock, but she only answered with a sly, well-masked grin.

"What ever for?" General Oppenheimer asked, lounding back in his comfortable chair… clearly patronizing the both of us, which was what Melodye had evidentially expected. As a matter of fact, all four of them looked more amused than anything else.

I looked to Melodye again… but this time, she only nodded at me, full of expectancy. I cursed inwardly, my face paling as I looked to the four.

"I…" I began, clearing my throat and wondering how to speak to them without sounding pathetic _or_ sounding outright goofy. "It's a gift. For a girl."

With those words, I steeled myself for what I felt would be the inevitable backlash.

"My goodness." Esmeralda said, bringing a hand to her lips in an expression of faux intrigue.

"And who would the fair young recipient of said gift _be_?" Vincent inquired, leaning forward a bit in his chair.

That sort of irked me. They hadn't even asked _my_ name, settling on 'peasant'…

"I… you probably wouldn't know her."

"Are you so certain?" Vincent asked, slowly rising from his chair and beginning to pace back and forth. "The people of Toran Castle- from the smallest mouse to Lord McDohl himself are no less than my dearest associates! I should think there is not a soul in this castle I could not call brother or sister. Thus I, Vincent de Boule, would thank you on behalf of myself and my close friends here not to make presumptions to the contrary!"

I just stared at him, trying to ignore the sudden throbbing pain in my head.

"Meg." I said after a slight pause.

"Pardon?" Vincent answered after another.

I sighed and clapped a hand over my face.

Fortunately, Melodye intervened.

"Meg is the niece of renowned Master Trickster Juppo, and it is she who has won this young man's affections."

I was impressed with her composure… and apparently, so were they.

"Now that you say this…" Vincent began again, "I do recall there was a matter regarding a Trickster's niece that-"

"Yes." I interrupted before I could stop myself. "Onil's been spreading all sorts of rumors about it."

"Ugh." Esmeralda made a sound of distaste, thankfully distracting Vincent from his outrage at being cut off. "Dreadful woman; Abysmal fashion sense, and so terribly _gauche_."

And that might have been the one time at which the Narcissists and I ever agreed on anything.

"So _you_ are this unrequited lover of rumor…" Vincent said with a smile creeping into his tone. "Terribly quaint, this."

"Sure." I nodded in surrender. "About the flowers, though… I honestly don't know if it'll help. Pretty much all accounts state she's not interested in a boyfriend. She said it herself: 'I don't have a boyfriend, and I don't need a boyfriend'."

"Ah, but did she say she did not _want_ one?" Milich asked, looking quite pleased with his clever catch.

"No…" I admitted… which did actually make me feel a little better about the whole matter. "But her uncle seems dead-set on my staying away from her."

"A _forbidden_ unrequited love!" Vincent near exploded, his voice a rousing cheer. "Magnifique!"

Esmeralda only rolled her eyes, looking to Kasios who immediately went back to strumming her harp.

Milich stood up grandly, and my heart rose with it… honestly, I should have tried the 'pathetic' card the moment I got there.

"What sort of colors does she prefer?" He asked, looking about the garden while slowly drawing his rapier.

"I don't know, really." I answered, moving to follow him. "I know she wears white, tan and a lot of green… and her eyes are a sort of dark reddish-brown…"

As he walked, Milich carefully sliced away blossoms and stems like the branches of a bonsai tree; white roses, another unfamiliar flower type with closely bunched petals and a lazy, sandy color to them, and still another with petals the color of red wine.

At the conclusion of Milich's arranging, Vincent stood close at hand to offer a gold-colored handkerchief to tie the bouquet together. The general looked it over, and with an approving smile, offered it to my shaking hands.

"It… it looks incredible!" I said. Somehow, even the scent of the bouquet seemed to penetrate the assault of other aromas to soothe with its gentle fragrance.

"Now hurry along and deliver them before the poor dears spoil." Milich said as he sheathed his weapon.

Wide-eyed, I turned in place and shuffled back toward the stairs, giving repeated, clumsy expressions of thanks as I walked.

Finally, after reentering the castle proper, I took a long, deep breath and slumped against a wall.

"Well?" Melodye asked, stepping beside me. "Are you feeling a little better now?"

"As far as my confidence? Yes." I nodded woozily, "But if you don't mind holding these for a second… I need to throw up now."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

I'd decided to hold off on the bouquet for the time being. As Milich had said, I wanted to get it to her while it was still fresh, but Meg moved around so much it would have been impossible to know where she would be. Perhaps Viktor could have helped me out again.

With that thought in mind, I headed to the Knight's barracks, keeping the arrangement close to my bedside. After what it took to get the thing, I would be damned if I let it out of my waking sight, or into anybody else's hands.

All I could think about was how she might react to my presenting it to her; what would she say? The look on her face… but by that point, after everything that'd happened, the pessimist in me was starting to take over. 'She'll probably ignore it', I thought. 'A topiary of Juppo might catch her attention a little better, at least for a few seconds…'. But as I stared at the bouquet, I forced my mind to at least concede a tiny glimmer of hope.

* * *

That night, I awoke to a strange sound from outside, garbled by the echoes of the stone cave walls.

Slowly, I crawled out of my cot, careful not to accidentally damage the flowers beside me. In fact, I picked them up and kept them with me as I left the barracks and tried to follow the sound to its source.

The closer to the ground floor I came, the more clear and distinct the noise became; it was a breathy sound, accompanied by another noise like wrinkling paper.

Finally, I stepped down to where the stairwell connected to the entrance hall of Toran Castle- but swiftly ducked back into it.

The sight before me… for a second, it led me to think that perhaps we were being attacked in the night…

There was a small number of soldiers gathered outside the castle near the docks- and near them, an equal number of large, powerful looking winged lizards… Dragons.

I watched for a moment from my hiding place, both in awe of the creatures, and in bewilderment as to what they could possibly be doing at this time of night. From what I could see, they were hunched down over the water, spewing flashes of blue-white light into it.

"Hey."

I jerked in place, head darting this way and that until I finally noticed a solitary figure who had been standing just inside the castle gates. The voice had been soft, only a normal speaking tone. This time of the night, though, it was very easily heard, even over the din of the dragons spewing their breath weapons into the sea.

Caught, I slunk out of the stairwell, raising my hands- one of which still contained the bouquet.

It was a boy a few years younger than me… although he looked about as weary and miserable as a man twice my age. He wore the armor and regalia of one of the Dragon Knights, but clearly he was about as lofty and respected in his organization as I was in mine.

"What are you doing here?" The boy asked.

"I…" I blinked, glancing at the bouquet in my hand before offering a weak response, "have you seen Meg anywhere around here?"

"No one is allowed down here right now, per Lord Silverberg's orders."

I nodded quickly, turning to retreat back up to the first floor… but I stopped after the first two steps, and glanced back at him.

"…What's it like being a Dragon Knight?" I asked, although I'm not sure why the need to ask struck me there and then.

He only looked down at the ground.

"It… I'm not…"

And that was all he said, before turning and slowly shuffling back to his spot, guarding the gates.

I'd noticed a few tears having struggled from his eyes… but I didn't press him.

…Though it hurt to see anyone so sad.

I made my way back upstairs, stopping outside my barracks, my head filled with thoughts that were far from the norm for me… Looking down at the bouquet in my hands, I drew in a deep breath, taking in its aroma.

I went back to my bed, but didn't lay down. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I just sat there cross-legged, holding the bouquet in my lap.

Thinking.

* * *

I must have nodded off at some point after that, because the next thing I heard was a loud clanging, and a full-bodied shout echoing through the barracks.

"To arms! To arms! The Knights of Maximillian ride to war this day!"

I straightened up where I sat, looking all around to see the other knights busily dressing in their battle gear. It was a striking sight to see so many well-disciplined soldiers working almost in unison, their armor and weapons impeccably equipped in just over a minute.

Completely confused as to what was going on, I hurriedly dressed in my Squire's attire, and slung my heavy backpack over my shoulders.

"Hey." I called out to another of the soldiers who was rushing past me. "What's happening?"

"Are you deaf?" The Knight- a second-class infantry- replied, "War!"

"Where? Against who?"

"Against the _Empire_!" The knight replied in an impatient tone.

"_Specifically_!"

"Sonya Schulen, of Shasarazade."

I watched him as he ran off to station himself in rank with the other Knights… aware only vaguely that I was still holding the bouquet in my hand. Finally I glanced down at it, biting my lip.

It would be here when I got back… but…

"Wait. Shasarazade?" I repeated after a moment. "The 'Floating Fortress'?"

The other knight had long-since run off, but I was still wondering what I had just heard. Of the Imperial Strongholds, I'd heard of both Scarleticia and Shasarazade; one for obvious reasons, and the other for the fact that it was basically built over water. Unlike Toran Castle which was a natural- albeit strange- structure, Shasarazade was entirely unique, all man-made. As a matter of fact, Toran was an Imperial Outpost, replaced by Shasarazade after its completion.

How they planned to assault a place like that…

My first thought was that the Dragon Knights were going to attack it from the air, and that's what they had been congregating about the night before… but then, there really weren't enough of them, and the place wasn't terribly vulnerable from above.

But if it wasn't that, what _could_ it be?

The answer was beyond my imagining.

After I was finished getting myself ready- which didn't require much- I ran for the nearest window that could look down on the docks. At that point, most of them were pretty crowded, masses of people looking to do the same thing I was.

As I finally wedged my way to the front, the person before me- a blonde guy about two years older than me… Sheena-goddamned-Lepant… he turned away from the window, muttering something about something being 'damned ridiculous'.

As I took his place and looked down, I immediately thought I was dreaming, and that my dreams had a very strange sense of humor.

Using the Dragon's Ice Breath (there are Dragons who breathe things other than fire- who knew?), Mathiu and a few of the Dragon Knights had gathered together over the night to arrange this little surprise party. Otherwise, he'd kept it a secret from all of us, including Commander McDohl, Sanchez, and his own student, Apple. Of course, he must have hinted at it, given that audience he'd had with McDohl, Viktor and the others- the one that had interrupted my attempt at talking to Meg.

This was actually the _second_ time Mathiu had thrown a surprise into the Liberation Army's military activities; the first being at the Empire's Northern Checkpoint (coincidentally where Lord Maximillian and Commander McDohl crossed paths). From what I heard, they were doing training exercises, which turned into a full-out assault, much to _everyone's _shock.

It seemed like a silly trick, and this one overly contrived, but the reason for it would become clear soon enough.

There were rumors of a mole within the ranks of the Liberation Army, and in order to take away his or her effectiveness, Mathiu had to get crazy.

For my part, I could only hope Meg and I would both survive this, so my gift could be delivered… which probably said something for my priorities.

* * *

Considering the nature of the battle, cavalry would be completely useless- basically out of the fight. So was the Second and Third Class infantry. There was simply no room on the ice-boats for anything but the First Class soldiers… and Infantry Members with Squire training, such as myself.

See, unlike many Knightly organizations, Squires and Knights are not the same thing amongst Maximillian's Knights. That is to say, Squires do not one day become Knights. I mean, they can if they show promise in martial combat the way I did, but… let me try this again.

Squires handle support and healing duties. Knights handle combat. Maximillian Knights who start off as Knights aren't given Squire Training, and only Squires who have a good deal of talent with weapons are given any Knight's Training whatsoever, and even then, they never reach First Class. As anybody knows, putting Healers in the front line is a stupid idea.

So I stay to the back, patching up wounds and handing out weapons to those who've lost their own, doing so until we've either won the fight, or things have gone so badly that they pull the Infantry Third-Class/Squires into the fight, at which point we're probably all dead anyway.

So in a rare situation, I would be sharing company with First-Class, as well as the Liberation Army elites. Without a full two-thirds of Maximillian's Knights, some of us Squires would be delegated to groups different from our usual squads.

Of course, the second I heard this, I more or less charged out of our barracks, making my way toward where the strategists' room was located.

If nothing else, I could try and tip the scales with regard to what squad I'd be placed with.

As far as I knew, the groups were already assigned randomly, so all I'd have to do is talk to whoever was in charge of said assignments. With any luck, I'd still have time to get switched to whatever party Meg was in.

With any luck. But if you've read this far…

I skidded sidelong to the doorway into the Strategist's chamber, not expecting Mathiu or Sanchez- they were probably hard at work making last-second preparations. More likely I would find… who I found.

Grunting and muttering to herself behind stacks of books and papers was Mathiu Silverberg's student, Apple. I think I mentioned her earlier, and honestly neither my editor nor I could say what her last name was, nor if 'Apple' was even her real _first_ name.

I cleared my throat as I stepped inside. After a few more moments of shuffling, her conservatively styled brown-haired head popped up from the wall of paper. In a swift, practiced action, she near-simultaneously adjusted her thick glasses and brushed a few stray locks from her hair.

"You ought to be downstairs." She commented shortly. "You're one of the Maximillian Squires, aren't you?"

"Yes," I began, stating my name and rank once again. "I just wanted to know if you had any say in troop placement. There's-"

"Shushushushushush." She said quickly, waving a hand at me, as though suddenly remembering something she'd forgotten to do, not wanting to lose it now that she had. After a few moments of foraging in the pile, she nodded firmly, and hurried around the strategist's table to speak to me directly. "Okay. Now, what was it you wanted?"

Admittedly, Apple was sort of cute; I had to shake my head to clear it out a bit before nodding.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you, and yes, I know we're getting ready for war… did YOU know about this whole 'Ice Boats' thing?"

Apple shrugged.

"Not a clue. But that's Master Mathiu for you! He really is a genius…" She fawned for a moment, before I cleared my throat again.

"Troop placement?"

"Oh!" She said, startled out of her apparent fantasy. "Oh, right! Um… We really hadn't thought that far ahead. We'd just intended to split you off at random… you know, 'first come, first served'?" She explained, tilting her head at me.

I blinked, then let out an annoyed little growl.

Instantly apologizing and bowing, I turned on my heel and dashed out of the Strategists' Room. Knowing the elevator would probably be faster than the stairs from the near-top-floor of Toran, I skidded to its door, all but landing on the Call Button.

To my great pleasure, the device let out an almost instant 'ding' to signify the elevator car's arrival. As the bars clanked open, though… that pleasure immediately and completely disappeared.

I was suddenly confronted by the ebon-armored figure of Pesmerga, the Black Knight.

This guy, I didn't need any help recognizing. It was universally recommended to me at some point in the mess hall that I should stay away from him at all costs.

Some days…

I had been ready to collapse into the small enclosure and hit the Ground Floor button with wild abandon, but now I couldn't seem to make my legs move, one way or the other.

He, however, wasn't pleased with being forced to stop and stare at a terrified squire. He reached out and grabbed my paralyzed body by the collar of my shirt, dragging me in with him. The last thing one would have heard before the bars clanked noisily shut behind me was my tiny, whimpering squeak.

The elevator began to descend, my stomach left somewhere outside the elevator some floors back.

When the door opened again, I immediately stumbled out and to the side to make room for Pesmerga to brush roughly past me.

The entry hall was more crowded than I'd ever seen it; filled to the brim with armed Liberation Army troops, the elites, Knights, and Squires like myself who were busily wedging about and lining up as best they could. Most of them were talking about the absolute absurdity of all this. I think I actually heard Tai Ho making some wisecrack about whether or not we ought to bring the Fire Spears they used against General Teo.

Immediately, I looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of Meg or Juppo; I assumed if they were getting dragged along on this escapade, they'd at least be part of the same team.

Unfortunately, just as my eyes finished adjusting to the odd lighting in the hall, I felt Pesmerga's plate-mailed hand grabbing me again- this time by the back of my collar. Despite my weak struggles, he proceeded to shove me just in front of him, leading me closer to the exit, and subsequently to the docks (most people knew enough to get out of his way, but I still suffered a few stomped toes in their efforts to clear his path).

At last, I found myself wobbling at the edge of the docks, looking down at one of the ice-boats. It was already filled with soldiers, much like others already on their way to Shasarazade.

"Pesmerga. Experts' Squad." The Black Knight rumbled lowly, although he was still easily heard despite the chattering mass of humanity behind us.

After speaking, he thrust his hand forward, sending me stumbling off the edge of the dock; and into an ice boat below. Of course, my leg slipped and nearly sent me tumbling into the water, if it weren't for two soldiers who managed to catch me and drag me back.

After a hurried thanks, I turned immediately back to where I'd been thrown from.

"W-wait! Wait! I'm already assigned! I'm-… I'm supposed to-!" I called, but Pesmerga was already climbing into the boat, and turning to kick off with his heavy booted foot… how HE didn't slip on the icy surface, I would never know. Maybe physics were just too scared of him to compromise his dignity. I wouldn't have blamed them.

After a few seconds of meaningless protests, I groaned softly and slumped back on the edge of the boat, catching myself so I didn't fall back into the water. It was surreal that it was such a temperate day, but I could still see my breath in the air from the chill the boats provided. I could only wonder if Mathiu had taken the boats' slipperiness into account, or the fact that we'd all leave them with numb feet and cold backsides… maybe he thought soldiers were made of sterner stuff than to let the cold affect us… or maybe he just didn't care as long as his plan was executed without a hitch.

"Nice of you to join us," came a voice from inside the ice-vessel, but thankfully it wasn't addressing _me_, nor was it half as intimidating as Pesmerga's low growl. It was actually a gruff, elderly voice, muffled ever so slightly by the presence of a thick beard.

It was a man dressed all in white, with a predictably matching beard. He also wore a matching white hat, with lining of gold here and there. A pair of black boots provided modest protection from the ice. Over his shoulder, he carried an immense hammer… this was one of Toran Castle's five Blacksmiths. I'm not sure why we needed five of them, but we had five of them. Apparently this man- Mace- was their teacher.

(Just a side note, I'd like to describe the Blacksmiths a bit; they all dressed almost identically, except for different outfit colors and slight flourishes here and there. The size of their hammers increased with rank. Their names- I am not joking- were Maas, Meese, Mose, Moose and Mace. I would like to take this opportunity to state that- if only for that- I am glad my parents got me into the Knighthood instead of Blacksmithing. …They would have to invent a new vowel. [Mys, maybe?].)

Mace was the second member of the Experts, the third… Well, he was a hard man to describe.

Clive was a very secretive sort of guy. He was usually the type to sit and brood over in a corner somewhere, hooded cloak fluttering in the errant winds of Toran Castle while maids and younger female members of the Liberation Army sat around fantasizing about him like men tended to do with Jeane. I think I caught the laundry lady (Sarah) looking over at him a few times. However, kind of like me, like Meg, like Apple and like half the people in Toran, he seemed to be looking for someone else in particular… but then that thought only leads me to the mental image of Meg wearing a hooded cloak, trying to look all dark and brooding, and it just- and I'm not ashamed to say it- makes me giggle (I mean at that point, I wasn't giggling, but you get the idea).

What interested me- and most other men- about him was his choice of weaponry. Very few of us had ever seen a genuine, working 'gun' before. We all assumed that sort of stuff was 'Dwarf-exclusive' technology, but Clive handled his like a pro; call it what you will, it was interesting to watch him work.

Of course, none of this changed the fact that not only did I not end up on the Tricksters' boat; I also had no idea where in hell they were. The ice-fleet was crowded with people, and I couldn't tell who was where.

As it turned out, the 'Stars of Destiny' (the mystical term for the Liberation Army's elite) were split into three-member 'commander teams'. As mentioned above, I was in the 'Expert's' Squad; Mace, Clive and cheery ol' Pesmerga.

For her part, Meg was in the Tricksters' Squad, which consisted of Juppo and Meg- obviously- but with the inexplicable inclusion of Jabba who ran the Antique shop. Your guess is as good as mine on that decision.

Despite all of the time I had to search while floating around on the ice boat, I didn't catch even a glimpse of any of the Tricksters' Squad. It didn't help that the Dragons kept flying low to the ground/water, giving us an occasional misting of their ice breath to keep the air and water cold- the last thing we needed was the things melting en-route and us having to _swim_ to Shasarazade. _That_ would have been an impressive assault…

Occasionally I'd edge myself clockwise around the perimeter of the ship, each time turning up with nothing. Then, at last, I saw the shadow of the Floating Fortress looming on the horizon, and scrambled back to the rear once more.

I remember wishing I'd brought my coat.

* * *

Obviously, we weren't expected.

I'm thinking we all felt a little bit of schadenfreude at the sounds of panic from the fortress when the first few boats neared the shore, and it was at that point I had to admit that Mathiu actually _was_ a genius instead of an evil tyrant. The amount of damage done by the enemy was minimal at best, inflicted mostly by half-cocked arrow volleys.

All in all though, the battle was a side-issue. Our real goal was to get Commander Tir and his team into the subterranean catacombs beneath Shasarazade, and burn the place out from within. We just had to stall for time until Tir and company closed the floodgates.

As we got closer, I could see a couple of boats had made landfall, out of line of sight of the opposing army near to the sewer entrance.

I hadn't had to do much patching on my boat. Really, I hadn't expected otherwise; when you're seated with a group of guys called the 'Experts', the amount of screw-ups and casualties can't be all that high. As a result, whenever I could manage it, you could probably tell what I was doing.

But then, suddenly, as we ducked another volley of arrows, I heard a panicked shout from our northern flank.

"Medic! MEDIC!"

I didn't recognize the voice offhand, but squirming through the mass of troops on my ship and squinting through the boats, I gasped.

They must have _just_ pulled up, right in time to take the volley that had just swept over us.

In the boat, I saw none other than the round-hatted overstuffed Master Trickster, hunched over someone I couldn't see. It had been he who had shouted.

My blood suddenly went as cold as the boat I was standing in.

I wasn't really thinking at that moment. Most of it was just a blur. Kind of like one of those lucid dreams you only barely have control over. I pulled off my backpack, hoisted it up over my head, and hopped into the water.

If you needed any kind of evidence about the whole 'me not being smart' thing, this was probably it. A litany of reasons that would be brought up to me later should have kept me on the boat, but there I was, having just leapt into the water… which had been nicely chilled by a fleet of miniature icebergs.

Let's just say that the chorus of garbled curses I heard while briefly underwater had nothing on the self-hatred running through my head at that point.

"GOD DAMN IT!"

"Get back in the boat, you moron!"

I didn't recognize the voice that shouted at me, nor did I bother to look back. I had to keep moving forward. My legs started kicking, desperate to keep my head and my backpack above water, while simultaneously pushing me toward the Tricksters' boat. I tried to ignore the wet, biting chill that pierced me from all sides… at least, all sides that weren't already numb.

More people hissed at me on the way, but most of them tried to preserve some sort of dignity in all this; more than I had, anyway, coughing and sputtering like a drowning animal.

Finally, my head and raised arms thumped against something hard and cold… so either Pesmerga had jumped in after me, or I'd reached the boat. _A_ boat. At that point, I really didn't care.

"What're you doing!" A soldier shouted down at me from inside the ship.

"M-m-m-medic!" I chattered back. "N-n-needed m-m-medic!"

There was a second of silence- a second longer than my body would have liked- before someone took the backpack from me, leaving my free hands to plop down on the rim of the boat.

"Watch it! Don't rock the boat!"

"S-s-sorry!" I shouted back as best I could, before two pairs of hands took me by my wrists and dragged me aboard. Really, considering it was a block of floating ice, it wasn't much better than being in the water itself, but at least it was solid.

"What the…?" I was sort of relieved to hear Juppo's voice again, since it meant I was in the right place… but my relief was short-lived.

He had opened my backpack, and discovered what lay carefully tucked on top of all my other belongings and equipment…

"What the hell is this!" He demanded, thrusting the well-appointed bouquet in my direction, the golden handkerchief once wrapped around it dangling from his other hand.

My eyes darted around, until landing where they ought to have the second I landed on the boat… where they found not a cute little trickster girl, but instead, an old man in a cap and a monocle.

"Y-you're not-…" I said, the gradually growing blush of embarrassment in my cheeks doing little to stave off the cold. "…J-Jabba?"

"Yeah." I heard Juppo speak again. Turning, I found myself staring directly into his face.

"You don't listen all that well, do you?" Juppo growled, low so as not to attract any _more_ attention from surrounding boats. "I remember you, the little punk from the night before last…" He looked with revulsion down at the bouquet.

"…It's not like I was g-going to give it to her _now_…" I shot back, although the fact that I was soaked, freezing, embarrassed and in the middle of a war left my debate posture lacking.

"That's not the point!"

I reached out a hand, demanding my backpack from where it lay on the icy floor of the boat.

"Jabba still needs healing, right? Gimmie my backpack!"

"Nah, the wound's not as bad as we thought." Juppo said, glancing back at the pack. "Leave the pack with us. We can handle it… but _you _can keep _these_."

"W-Wha-!"

At that moment, he reached out, jamming the bouquet against my chest, and with an angry, scowling smirk, shoved me off the edge of the boat in a cascade of droplets and petals.

As I toppled off the lip of the icy vessel… the last thing I saw before toppling headfirst into the water was a flutter of frilly tan skirt

The next thing I remembered was hitting the ice-cold water again, flailing, sputtering… and a massive blow to the back of my head.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four**_

When I finally _did_ wake up, I did so in the clinic of Toran Castle. I had no idea how much time had passed, or whether we'd even succeeded in our assault on Shasarazade. I mean, I suppose we _had_ to have, or I wouldn't have awakened at _all_.

As I came around, I noticed the clinic was pretty empty, and it wasn't even Army Doctor Luikan who was tending to me, but one of his nurses.

From what I would later be told, once I hit the water, I was almost instantly clocked in the back of the head by another ice boat, which in turn drove me underwater, where I very nearly drowned. However, one of the boat's commanders- Ronnie Bell, a freaking MASSIVE woman- reached into the water from the back of the boat, and dragged me onto the thing. I'm kind of shocked the cold didn't wake me up right off, but thank God it didn't. Ronnie Bell's team- the Secret Factory Team- consisted of Mose (one of those Blacksmiths), and the laundry girl Sarah I told you about when I was going on about Clive (again, I have no idea who picks these teams or the logic behind said choices. I just work here).Ronnie dragged me out, but unfortunately neither she nor Sarah were well-versed in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. But because my luck works that way, Mose certainly was.

I'll let you figure out the rest.

As for the thing that actually mattered (by which I mean the war), I blacked out only minutes before the critical moment.

Tir and his entourage got to the floodgates, all right, and closed them just as planned… unfortunately, the chemicals that were intended to burn the place out from the inside went off a few minutes ahead of schedule; Like, "While Tir and company were still in the catacombs" ahead of schedule.

From what I understand- from what we were _told_, anyhow- one of the other soldiers who was directly under Sanchez's command turned out to be the traitor to the Liberation Army. You know, the one that Mathiu came up with all those goofy plans in order to counter. The guy assumed he could take out both our army's Commander and our chief Strategist in one blow. He stabbed Mathiu in the back (in a very real sense) and tipped and lit the oil or whatever it was.

Unfortunately for him, Tir and the others got out, safe and sound (with General Sonya Schulen, to boot!) and Mathiu survived his little ambush… for a while, anyway. I guess someone got too hotheaded or something because they killed the traitor on the spot, and dropped his corpse into the burning castle of Shasarazade.

As for Sanchez, he was held accountable for the lapse in security. He was punished by being placed under closer scrutiny himself, pretty much put in solitary confinement for the duration of the war.

Of course, there are rumors that Sanchez had a more active role in this betrayal… but that's Onil for you.

Nevertheless, we had won Shasarazade and taken General Schulen captive. She, like General Hazil, General Rossman and General Oppenheimer, decided to join up with us along with what troops were left from her contingent. I guess one by one they realized they weren't playing for the right team (but then again, considering Commander Tir had the Grim Reaper emblazoned on his hand, I might have been confused, too).

Anyway, back to me.

I was still a bit achy about the chest and the back of my head. I was all bandaged up, and the nurse allowed me to leave… but told me I was expected in the Barracks.

This was usually bad news, and considering the circumstances behind my stay in the clinic, I knew for _certain_ I wasn't headed for a promotion.

Looking back at the time, I was happy it hadn't been Meg who'd been hurt in the volley after all. Whether or not I'd been able to help her. There were plenty of ways to play the hero that didn't include her being riddled with arrows.

However… the bouquet was now gone. And, really, it was all for nothing.

As I walked- rather, 'limped' toward the barracks, downing a pain-numbing Medicine vial on the way, it occurred to me just how quiet the place was. There was a mere skeleton crew at work on laundry, cooking, cleaning, and a handful of soldiers on daily patrols. I couldn't help wondering where everyone else was. Still cleaning up at Shasarazade at that point, would have been my guess.

I finally arrived at-… well, what once had _been_ the barracks, only to find a large, empty room instead of rows of cots.

Well… mostly empty.

Standing at the center of the vast, echoing cave was none other than Lord Maximillian Maximillian, of Maximillian's Knights (and his Squire, Sancho). They had been there, waiting specifically for my arrival… the thought of which sent a great wave of shame through me. The fact that they had taken the time to personally attend to my punishment instead of leaving it to my immediate superior… and that they had waited for me to come out of a _coma_ to do so… Yes, I was in trouble.

I stood in the doorway for a second, as though freezing like a statue would somehow forego or even call off altogether the scolding to come… but it didn't work on Pesmerga, and it didn't work then, either.

"Step inside, Squire." He declared at last.

I shuffled forward, finding myself unable to look up at him- unable, even, to look toward the gentler, more logically minded Sancho- until at last, coming to stand before them. My gaze was still firmly weighted to the ground.

"Well?" He demanded, making me flinch. I had never seen him quite this stern. "Explain yourself."

"S-Sir… L- Lord Maximillian…" I began, swallowing. I felt nauseous, scared and I couldn't even blame it on the presence of those overstuffed Narcissists. "I didn't… mean to cause any trouble."

"You abandoned your post, Squire." He persisted, folding his arms. "Suppose someone on your ship had been grievously wounded. Suppose one of the soldiers in your care had died. Had you considered the explanation you would give his or her family before deciding to 'jump ship', as 't'were?"

I really hadn't, in all reality, but I suppose it hadn't struck me that anyone on _my_ ship- led by Pesmerga, Mace and Clive- led by _The Experts_- would have had anything to worry about. Then again- and I really should have realized it- there were more than just the three of them on the ship. Not everyone in the Liberation Army was some kind of choice soldier, a fact I should have known better than anyone else by that point. And even the so-called Elite Forces were vulnerable. Jabba and Mathiu _himself_ had been wounded, not to mention whatever the hell had happened to that poor Dragon Knight kid…

"I'm… I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but I heard another boat shout for a medic… someone else had been wounded…"

"There were other medics on other boats." Max retorted, his eyes made of steel and fire at that moment. "Closer boats than yours."

I sighed. I really had no excuse for what I had done- at least from a military perspective. Granted, my negligence hadn't ultimately resulted in any deaths, but it wasn't as though I would bring that up.

"It… wasn't just that."

"Then what was it?" He persisted.

"It…" I cleared my throat, hoping to dislodge the ever-present lump. "It was… for a girl."

Max said nothing, only leaning forward slightly, bidding me to continue.

"The boat I swam for belonged to the Tricksters' Squad. I saw Juppo, is how I knew… I didn't see Meg- Juppo's niece. I didn't see her, and I was scared…" Even at the memory, the thought, my insides were tying themselves in knots. "When I heard them call for a medic, I was scared she'd been hurt, or… or worse."

Another long silence passed, ending in an equally long, heavy sigh from my aged commander.

"My boy…" he began, glancing to Sancho who only gave a nod, "Recklessly leaping to the aid of another before fully gauging the necessity to do so, as _well _as abandoning your post, are very serious offenses. This holds true no matter how capable those you are assigned to may be."

I nodded, looking away from the two once more.

"And your lackadaisical manner with regard to your responsibilities as a Knight is nothing short of a disgrace to the organization itself. I have received a great many _complaints_ stating so from your immediate superior. However, at no point before this has it been a potentially life-threatening issue."

_I get it! _I wanted to say, but I was too busy trying not to cry, honestly.

"Do you wish to be a member of the Maximillian Knighthood?" He asked flatly, "Or have you truly no dedication? No purpose here?"

I hesitated.

That had been the real question for a long, long time now. The one I'd been wrestling with for _years_...

I don't know how I've looked to you throughout the events I've related to you up to this point, but really… At that moment in time, and even now, I'm embarrassed. Embarassed at the notion that I thought I was going to just sit in the back and watch everyone else throw swords, spells and arrows around, killing each other while I slacked on the sidelines waiting to be discharged. And to what end? Back before the Liberation War, I didn't think of endings, of consequences…

And then, this. I met friends who were completely invested in this war. I saw people like Mathiu- people who were supposedly indispensible to the fate of the world- nearly killed at the drop of a hat. Seasoned soldiers and grown men who were more than willing to give their lives… and poor innocents who only got wrapped up in it all.

I thought about Meg then. I thought about the fact that she had run away from home, and that her parents hadn't the slightest idea that she was unwittingly risking her life in a battle to overthrow the tyrannical Scarlet Moon Empire. I thought about Juppo and his unwilling but bizarre loyalty to his niece, trying to keep her safe and guarded from a reality she had simply failed to notice. And I thought about my own role in this war: Willing or not, I had been enlisted into an organization who took it upon themselves to perform that very same solemn duty, so that no one would have to experience the kind of loss that I saw in that Dragon Knight boy's eyes.

And I thought about Meg.

"No." I said out loud- but quickly corrected myself. "I mean, I don't want to leave. I _can't_ leave yet, sir. There's still too much to do… someone I have to protect."

Max and Sancho looked at me, then each other, and nodded.

"This is- more or less- what I had hoped to hear." Approaching me, he unfolded his arms, and placed his hands on my shoulders. "I shall overlook your… comparably minor infractions."

"'Comparably'?"

"To how damaging it _might_ have been."

"Oh…"

He nodded slowly, then continued;

"I shall overlook them… on the grounds that you realize there are certain behaviors that have no place within the Knighthood." He said, then smiled. "But there are ideals- such as love and chivalry- upon which the Knighthood was based."

At last, I was able to look up at him, tears trickling from my eyes through a smile in spite of myself.

"Just try to remember which is appropriate and when."

"Y-yes, sir! Of course! Thank you, sir!" I could barely form my words, stumbling over my words through a smile born of a joy I could never remember feeling before that moment.

"Now hurry and make yourself presentable." The aged warrior declared, standing to his full height, his voice taking on a serious, oddly somber tone. Well… odd until I realized what he actually _said_. "Myself and the Maximillian Knights will be expected at Gregminster City for the funeral."

"…The what? …_Where!_"

I had missed more than I thought.

* * *

The assault on the capital city of Gregminster had come very shortly after winning Shasarazade. From what I understand, it had been an intense, epic battle, the likes of which had never been seen before, and may never have been seen since; hordes of monsters, a clash of ancient and powerful Runic magic, the fall of several mighty imperial generals, and a victorious charge into the city where Tir McDohl and his entourage mightily stood against Emperor Barbarossa… It took place at sunset on the roof of the castle, countless soldiers watching as Barbarossa took the form of an enormous golden hydra, and by the time the climactic battle had ended, the castle was too weak to stand and began to collapse- taking with it (apparently) Barbarossa, the court magician Windy, Flik and Viktor.

It was the sunset of the Empire… and I had missed the entire God-damned thing.

The victory, however, was not without cost (and I don't mean Flik and Viktor. Don't feel too sorry for their loss; you'll see why in a short while).

Mathiu Silverberg, unfortunately, died of his injuries at the moment of the Liberation Army's final victory over Barbarossa, slipping from the world just as Castle Gregminster collapsed. It was his funeral to which Master Maximillian referred.

It was an amazing ceremony; not because of the décor and pomp and circumstance, but because of the sheer emotion involved. There wasn't a dry eye or an empty seat in the house.

I stood with the Maximillian Knights- as would be expected- watching and saluting, listening to one eulogy after another… a procession from which Sanchez was conspicuously absent. Flik and Viktor had gone missing, and Tir McDohl- to the shock of everyone involved- abdicated his position as President, and left the chair to now-president Lepant… not Sheena Lepant, Gods forbid, but _General _Lepant.

He was the one who spoke first, at great length, of the terrors of war and the strength of will required to be someone in Mathiu's position. Mathiu's uncle- Leon Silverberg- was there as well. He spoke of Mathiu's code of ethics, and about something called the Kalekka incident… I won't get into it here, it's pretty complicated stuff; Apple wrote about it in Mathiu's biography. Speaking of, Apple spoke as well, and… well, remember that 'not a dry eye in the house' comment I made before? That was really Apple's doing. She could barely keep herself composed as she spoke of Mathiu's skill and brilliance.

When all was said and done, there was a procession of a different sort, where all who wished to do so (although nobody wished to decline) could line up and pay their final respects to Mathiu. Maximillian demanded it of all of us, but I probably would have done it anyway. I said it before; I'd learned to respect him.

Then, at last, the army was released to mingle and contemplate and mourn.

I, for one, had no real desire to find anyone to mingle with. My head was full of 'serious stuff'; Everything Max and I had talked about, everything I'd experienced with the Stars in the last couple of days, this now-concluded Liberation War and how it had affected my outlook on life. Besides, nobody outside of a small handful even knew who I was, and those who did teased me- either about getting knocked into a coma, or Meg…

Meg… I didn't bother looking for her. I hadn't known what sort of role she'd played in the siege of Gregminster, but I couldn't imagine that once the war was over, Juppo would have stuck around… and as goes Juppo, so goes Meg… neither of them would have had any business at a funeral.

I sighed silently, pacing through the groups of chatting soldiers and civilians, until I heard a quiet voice call my name from some distance off.

Turning, I quickly recognized the face and attire of Templeton, the mapmaker. I turned toward him, but as I began to wander in his direction, I noticed that he was insistently waving me toward him.

Picking up my pace, making my way past a few more circled groups, I could make out more and more of my friends who had made a circle of their own: Templeton, obviously, with Lotte, Melodye, Hix, Tengaar, Viki, Qlon, and-

I stopped dead in my tracks. For a moment, I thought that after everything that had happened, the flicker of brown ponytail and the slight jingle of bells was my imagination attempting to pick away at what remained of my sanity… but no. The closer I came, the clearer it became:

Meg was still there. _Right _there. She stood at the middle of them all, looking around anxiously as might have been expected, holding a halfhearted conversation with Tengaar.

"Are you alright?" Templeton asked as I started making my way closer to the circle. "We were worried you might not get here in time… If you didn't, I doubt we could have-"

"I know." I said with a nod. "I'm fine, thanks… and I _mean_ 'thanks'." I shot him one more smile, and he nodded back. He knew I didn't have much time to talk.

As I approached, one of those surrounding Meg must have noticed me, as the circle opened up… forming a nigh-inescapable semicircle and allowing me a clear path to her. I hustled into the newly open space, and watched as she slowly realized something was amiss. Butterflies wrought havoc in my stomach as she gradually turned, finally facing me with those deep ruby eyes.

Unlike last time we met, when I was in mere bedding attire, I was in my fill squire's regalia, far more impressive, even if it wasn't _as _impressive as a Knight's might have been. She was still dressed in the same outfit as she ever wore, and (at the time) I wouldn't have had it any other way. That she had made it through this war without a physical or psychological hair out of place was all I could have asked for, all things considered… but now, I had more.

"Did I do something wrong?" She was the first to break the silence, with words that made me blush deeply.

"N-no." I began, that annoying lump emerging in my throat as it ever did in these sorts of situations. Thankfully, Tengaar saw fit to break the silence.

"This is the guy I was talking about before."

"Ah?" Meg blinked, glancing at Tengaar over her shoulder before looking back to me, her eyes widening slightly. "I thought you were… in a coma or something?"

"I got better…" I replied, smiling weakly. I couldn't stop that persistent flush in my cheeks- just tried not to focus on it, tried to focus simply on speaking the words I'd wanted to, but not really knowing what they were. You'd have thought I'd have been rehearsing for this moment, but even if I had been, circumstances kept changing, and things faded in and out of relevancy.

But as I stood there, as I simply looked at her and took in her presence, she reached up and rubbed her arm in a nervous gesture. I could sense Tengaar and the others mentally urging me to say something; _Any_thing… but then my eyes were drawn by her movements to her other arm, and to the glove of her right hand- in which was tucked a glittering gold handkerchief.

"I like your handkerchief…" I managed at last.

"My uncle… Uncle Juppo said it was a gift…" She looked around weakly, as though still seeking him out. "A gift from an idiot."

I coughed a bit. It was a fair assessment, but the fact that he'd given it to her at _all_…

"Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Yes…" I swallowed, looking away for a brief moment. "I… we've met twice, actually. Once in the castle halls at night, and once when we were in Merchant's Row. You yelled at me because you thought that I thought that Juppo was your 'boyfriend' and not your Uncle… how you told me you didn't have or need a boyfriend?"

She stared at me for several unsettling moments… until she finally brought the hand rubbing her arm up to her lips.

"Oh." She breathed.

"Yeah." I sighed back. "I've… I've been wanting to talk to you for a while."

"Why didn't you?" She replied casually. "I've been around."

"Well, no you haven't." I replied honestly. "You've been chasing Juppo all over the place- not that I blame you, I understand. It's just hard to find you."

She blinked, tilting her head inquisitively at me.

"I know you ran away from home to be a Trickster, left your family to find adventure, but…" I hesitated. I didn't want to come off sounding like a parent or something. I wanted to sound like-... I don't know.

"Meg… I know you want to make your own way in the world, to find adventure, to be a great Trickster like your uncle… but the world can be a scary place full of strange things and bad people. I don't know how seriously you've taken this war- God knows I didn't at all, at first- but… I've seen what it can do to people. People lose friends. They lose family… they could even lose their lives if they aren't careful."

I sighed deeply, and looked at the handkerchief again.

"I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want to think about you being hit by a stray arrow or getting ambushed by bandits on the road or something or…"

"Why do you care?" Meg asked, a hint of a pout in her voice. "You're not my parents, or my uncle… I don't even really know who you are. I mean, other than those two times, have we even met?"

"I know." I replied. Now it was my turn to feel awkward… it was true. We'd never really talked, never gotten to know each other. She was cute and I admired her determination, her free spirit… I looked at her, and wanted to know she would be that way forever; that nothing would happen to endanger her, to make her sad or take away her view that the world was something to be explored and enjoyed rather than feared (Why I didn't say any of this, I don't really know. It would have been better).

"I care about you, Meg." I said, and as I said it, I reached out, and took her by her slender, gloved hand. "I can't explain it, but… but I care about you. We don't know each other, but I _want_ to know you. I want to know what makes you want to be a Trickster. I want to know what possessed you to run away from home. How you felt about this war, or if you even cared. I want to know about your family, and about… about you! What makes you happy? What… makes you smile?"

I didn't know what my friends were thinking or whispering to each other about behind Meg's back at that point, but I didn't care. Slowly, I wrapped her hand in both of mine, my eyes staying on hers for as long as they could, though hers seemed to self-consciously dart this way and that. I know it was a silly thing to do, but I slowly got down on one knee, as though about to propose to her…

"I want to know everything about you because… Meg…" I hesitated.

"I want to be your-"

* * *

The last thing I remember hearing before finding myself kneeling on the center of the dinner table of a very confused Kobold family was a loud, high-pitched sneeze.

And then I remember being very, very angry.


End file.
